Living Stars
by xSn0wangel
Summary: Natsu has heard Lucy talk about the stars over and over, but he has his own interpretation. Gray just wants to know why Natsu is trying to burn him to death. Gratsu one-shot/drabble.


Natsu sighed as he looked up at the distant starry sky. The sharp pinpricks of light always initially reminded him of Lucy and her talent for naming constellations. She used to pull him to her window whenever they had sleepovers just so she could extend her arms towards the heavens and tell him how all the swirling masses connected. He would have been lying if he said it wasn't interesting, the way the constellations were grouped and how they'd move with the seasons. The way her wide eyes shown even beneath the dark of night was reason enough to go along.

But, after she faded from his mind and he continued to stare. The sky became a blazing inferno of light twisting above him. The stars up there weren't rigid or slowly moving. They were alive! New balls of fire combusted into existence everyday and those that were nearing the end of their lives expanded in one last proud display before finally exploding into nothingness. It was a chaos of fireworks blast apart in the dark sky!

Once when he'd gone on a solo-mission with Lucy, he tried to explain it to her as they sat beside their campfire. How he believed there was more to the stars than how they were arranged. Surely someone that called upon celestial spirits would believe that.

However she'd patted his leg as she brushed aside his theory. Lucy was an expert on the constellations after all. Her spirits were alive and real, yet they hailed from their own world and not from the sky.

He was dejected after that and tried to see them for what they were. But it was as if a comet had lit up his vision with its brilliance, only to soar away, leaving his eyes hazy and unfocused.

It was a silly thing to be upset over and he knew that. Still, he frowned as he put out the campfire's flames and curled up on his side to sleep.

A month later, he was on a mission with Team Erza and it was his turn to keep watch as the others slept. The heavenly bodies were brighter than his fire where they were camping in the countryside. Annoyed at their intensity, Natsu rested his hands within the flames providing the rest of his team with warmth and encouraged them to rise higher, crackle louder! The stars couldn't compare to the roar of fire!

When a hand clamped over his wrist, his body went rigid.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Idiot? Are you trying to burn us all alive?" spat Gray in the loudest form of a whisper.

Seeing that his fire had, in fact, grown to the size that it could catch one of his friend's sleeping bags on fire, Natsu's eyes widened. His let the flames flicker and die down back to their original size.

"My bad," he offered as an excuse, yet it spilled from his lips with not a hint of remorse.

"What were you even trying to do?"

Gray was confused at the dragon slayer's actions and watched with uncertainty as Natsu's hand balled into a fist. He released his grip on the other's wrist as Natsu rose to his feet while his face was turned towards the sky.

"What's wrong with you?" Gray muttered mostly to himself.

"It just makes me so angry!" shouted his standing teammate. Wondering if he'd continue, Gray was silent. The loudmouth couldn't stay quiet for long anyways.

"My fire is alive! I can feel it rushing from my lungs and when it burns…" He clamped a fist over his heart.

"So how is it, that they can burn brighter? When they're not even…"

He cut his eyes at Gray who was calmly watching him. What was this guy even talking about?

"Wait, the stars?"

"Yes! The stars!"

Gray couldn't keep himself from laughing at how riled up Natsu was over such a simple thing.

Natsu was fuming in response and grabbed a handful of his teammate's shirt, but when he prepared to jump Gray in a well-deserved attack, he saw it.

The ice make mage's eyes didn't shine in the darkness like Lucy's did, instead, they reflected the starlight.

He leaned closer, just to be sure and he could've swore those pale cheeks grew red, however, Gray didn't pull away like it was a silent challenge.

"I think they're alive too," Gray admitted as he looked above them thoughtfully. "But I'm more interested in the moon."

How was it that the ice bastard was the one to agree with him?

Natsu shook his head and let go of Gray's shirt before asking, "Why's that?"

"Just look at it, Natsu. It shines as bright, no, brighter than the stars, and it's only reflecting light."

At the dragon's confused face he continued with his explanation.

"The moon is just like the earth, it doesn't burn. It's the sun that is so strong, it lights up the moon even in the dead of night!"

As he listened to Gray's words, Natsu wondered if he had the same look on his face while describing the stars to Lucy.

"And the sun is a star."

He felt his breath catch at the knowledge and saw the light reflected in Gray's eyes twinkle slightly.

Lucy could analyze the position of the stars all she wanted, but after that night, Natsu was way more interested in the enlightenment of the moon.

L7L7L7L7


End file.
